Gold Coast Tourism Statistics

Page last updated: 15 March 2020

How many tourists visit the Gold Coast each year?

A total of 5.3 million visitors arrived on the Gold Coast in 2018/19. This included 4.2 million domestic visitors and 1.1 million international visitors.1

  • A total of $5.2 billion was spent by visitors to the Gold Coast in 2018-19.
  • $1.4 billion (or 26.9%) was spent by international visitors.
  • $3.77 billion was spent by domestic visitors.
  • The Gold Coast ranked 7th for overall expenditure out of all Australian tourist destinations.

Gold Coast International Tourism Statistics

  • The Gold Coast ranked 5th amongst the most frequently visited regions in Australia.
  • At $1.4 billion, the Gold Coast ranked 5th in terms of expenditure by international tourists. 
Data source: TRA. Image credit: Camper Champ
Data source: TRA. Image credit: Camper Champ

Why do international tourists spend less on the Gold Coast than other Australian destinations?

  • International tourists stay on the Gold Coast for an average of 9 nights.
  • This means stays on the Gold Coast are generally shorter than stays in other destinations.
  • A shorter length of stay means less is spent when visiting.
Data source: TRA. Image credit: Camper Champ

Visiting the Gold Coast Can be Expensive for International Tourists

  • The Gold Coast ranks 2nd for per night expenditure at $140 per night, following Tropical North Queensland.
  • This means more revenue is generated per customer per night; however, it could also be part of the reason for fewer average nights spent by travellers to the Gold Coast.
Data source: TRA. Image credit: Camper Champ

Top Source Markets

  • With a 26% share in the number of international visitors, China was the top source country for the Gold Coast in 2018-19, followed by New Zealand with 20% of the share.
Data source: TRA. Image credit: Camper Champ, Gold Coast

Gold Coast Domestic Tourism Statistics

  • The Gold Coast received 4.2 million domestic visitors in 2018/19.
  • At $3.77 billion, the Gold Coast was 6th in terms of domestic expenditure.

Gold Coast Camping & Campervan Statistics

  • The number of camping trips throughout Queensland has grown by 45.8% over the 10-year period from 2008 to 2018.2
  • In 2018 over 1.3 million overnight camping trips were made in Queensland.
  • Camping trips – including caravan, campervan, commercial and non-commercial camping – made up 13.9% of visitor nights for domestic travellers to Queensland in 2019 (year ending September)

Other Resources

Travel Statistics Resources

Global Statistics

References

  1. TRA: International Visitor Survey, 2019, National Visitor Survey 2019↩
  2. TRA: International visitor Survey, Trends 2019, National Visitor Survey, Trends 2019↩